NEWEYE Media Partnership

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

With the advent of cord cutters, multi-million dollar television productions, 24/7 news coverage and an ever increasing movement towards online content, it is difficult for the average citizen to fully connect and understand what may be happening in their local community. According to the American Press Institute, most Americans (87%) still receive their daily information from television broadcasts, but a growing number (67%) are utilizing their computers or mobile devices. The average local evening news spot given to any event is between 90-120 seconds, and if a large news event is going on, a local goodwill event may be lost in the coverage entirely. Local affairs remain the second biggest sought after interest for Americans, but for local governments and many community organizations that aren’t tech savvy, the prospect of interacting with a new age audience can seem like a daunting task. Officially launched in 2016, the NEWEYE Media Partnership is an innovative joint effort by Brown County and the Villages of Ashwaubenon, Allouez, Howard and the Town of Lawrence to increase their own engagement with their residents and intercommunity communication. The NEWEYE Broadcast Network uses a variety of 24/7 broadcast mediums and new technologies to reach residents, visitors, and tourists including: Cable P.E.G. Stations, Set-Top Streaming (Roku, Amazon Fire, etc), WebTV Portals, Terrestrial Broadcast, and Satellite Broadcast. By centralizing the management under a single entity, and cost-sharing the annual operational expenses, each community is getting the benefit of a dedicated, individual, media channel to reach their constituents, while only paying a small fraction of what other communities budget for the same services. In addition to local government, the NEWEYE network will provide opportunities for community organizations throughout the Northeast Wisconsin viewing area to directly engage their populations and inform them through both traditional and new online media about the local affairs that they are craving. By the end of its first year, NEWEYE content will be able to be seen by any person via television, mobile device, or computer. This gives NEWEYE a potential to reach at least 250,000 residents and over 4,000 hotel rooms worth of visitors.